Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe set to celebrate 200th race on historic return to Le Mans

 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe returns to its roots this weekend as the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans hosts the third round of the 2024 season, 28 years after the one-make GT championship’s predecessor, the Super Sport Trophy for Diablo SV-Rs, first raced. Featuring on the 24 Hours of Le Mans support bill for the first time in its current iteration reserved for the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, the European championship will also celebrate its 200th race with a grid of over 50 cars.

Following the opening two rounds of the year so far, at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps – which also ran on the support bill of the FIA World Endurance Championship – Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe will contest a pair of 45-minute races on the iconic 13.626km Le Mans circuit. The race week also marks the long-anticipated debut of the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh Hypercar prototype in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with partner team Lamborghini Iron Lynx fielding two examples.

Bonduel leads the way in Pro class

With three victories from the first four races, BDR Competition with Grupo Prom’s Amaury Bonduel is the form driver in the Pro category and will be one of the hot favourites in France. The solo driver holds a 9.5-point lead over the Target Racing combination of Oliver Söderström and Largim Ali, who claimed the first win of the year at Imola in April. Further back, Oregon Team’s Leonardo Caglioni and Enzo Geraci lie third in the standings, 24.5-points adrift of Bonduel and just three points ahead of Leipert Motorsport’s Sebastian Bathasar and Jacob Riegel. Completing the top five in the standings is the Rexal Villorba Corse partnership of Benedetto Strignano and Alberto di Folco, but the former will drive as a solo entrant this weekend due to di Folco’s commitments in the Italian GT Championship Endurance Cup. A number of crews will be looking to kickstart their campaigns properly in France after a promising start to the season. One of them is Target Racing’s Hampus Ericsson, the brother of IndyCar driver Marcus, who showed strong form in Belgium. The same goes for Iron Lynx’s crews, Giorgio Amati and Jesse Salmenautio claimed their first podium of the year last time out while Stefan Bostandjiev and Pavel Lefterov were third in race two at Imola. Art-Line’s Egor Orudzhev also picked up a podium in Belgium and will equally be aiming to deliver on the most famous endurance track in the world. Last year’s runner-up Mattia Michelotto should also be in the mix following a difficult start to the season for VS Racing and will run as a solo entry in the #6 car. Returning to the Pro class after missing the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps is a trio of French drivers: Loris Cabirou will team up with Quentin Antonel at CMR after skipping Spa to race in the North American championship at Laguna Seca, while Simon Gachet and Lola Lovinfosse are back with Schumacher CLRT (in the #83 and #76 cars respectively); the latter has successfully recovered from a fractured wrist sustained in the Miami round of the F1 Academy series.

Formánek and Rosina look to consolidate Pro-Am advantage

With a win at Imola and two second places, Mičánek Motorsport pairing Bronislav Formánek and Štefan Rosina lead the Pro-Am class heading into Le Mans by 6.5-points from Renaud Kuppens and Roee Meyuhas (Boutsen VDS), double winners this season so far. Two points further back is the Iron Lynx crew of Claude-Yves Gosselin and Joran Leneutre, who in turn are 3.5-points ahead of ASR’s Miloš Pavlović and Alessio Ruffini. Fifth in the standings is the Lamborghini Stüttgart by Target Racing partnership of Guido Luchetti and Calle Bergman, but the latter will be absent for the trip to France and will be replaced by Super Trofeo North America regular Cam Aliabadi. Having taken their maiden victory together last time out at Spa, albeit earning only half points, VS Racing’s Andrea Frassineti and Ignazio Zanon will be aiming to continue their momentum at Le Mans. Among the other new arrivals to the Pro-Am class this weekend, are full-season Super Trofeo Asia competitors Stanislav Minsky and Alex Liang Jiantong, who will enter under the Harmony Racing banner with support from Leipert Motorsport.

Title race evenly poised in the Am class

Just one point separates the Am class leader Pietro Perolini and Davide Roda (Oregon Team) from the VS Racing crew of Piergiacomo Randazzo and Stéphane Tribaudini, having taken one win apiece ahead of round three. Just four points behind is the Art-Line entry of Nigel Bailly; the Belgian driver took his first victory in Super Trofeo in the rain-affected season opener at Imola and has a three-point lead over Target Racing’s Huilin Han. Schumacher CLRT’s Stéphan Guérin is close behind and firmly in the title mix too, just 1.5-points further back. North American Am champions Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh return to the European championship after missing the Spa round in favour of the corresponding Laguna Seca weekend. They will be joined within the Leipert Motorsport stable by Haowen Luo and Jia Jun Song, who will race under the Vortex Racegraph brand with whom they contest the Super Trofeo Asia series.

Half a point splits the top two in Lamborghini Cup

Such is the competitiveness of the Lamborghini Cup field, that just half a point is the difference between championship leader Holger Harmsen (GT3 Poland) and ASR’s Paolo Biglieri and Petar Matić. Both crews have taken one victory and two podiums, but Harmsen has the advantage with one more second place while Biglieri and Matić were unable to take maximum points from the second race at Spa-Francorchamps. Six points adrift in third place is the Brutal Fish Racing entry of Charlie Martin, who will benefit from the return of regular team-mate Jason Keats. Art-Line’s Shota Abkhazava is a point further back, having taken victory in race two at Imola and a podium in Belgium. Father-and-son combination Luciano and Donovan Privitelio (Rexal Villorba Corse), 9.5-points behind in fifth. Keen to secure their first podiums of the year at Le Mans will be BDR Competition by Grupo Prom’s Alfredo Hernandez Ortega, DS Racing’s Serge Doms, and John Seale (Iron Lynx).

200th race celebrations mark latest milestone for Super Trofeo Europe

The 200th Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe race represents a significant milestone for Lamborghini Squadra Corse, which first introduced the one-make championship back in 2009. From the inaugural race meeting at Adria Raceway, the championship has evolved a great deal over the years, having started out using the Gallardo Super Trofeo model between 2009-2012, before moving to the Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeobetween 2013-2015. The Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo made its debut the middle of 2015, as part of a gradual phasing out of the Gallardo LP 570-4. By 2018, the Huracán EVO was integrated into the championship, with the third generation Huracán, the EVO2 present since 2022.

Format changes for this weekend

Due to the particularities and scheduling of the 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend, the itinerary for the third round of the Super Trofeo Europe season has been revised accordingly.

A solitary 45-minute free practice session will be held on Wednesday morning, giving the crews precious little time to get a feel for the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe. With track time at a premium, and no prior testing possible, making the most of practice will be key for competitors ahead of a pair of shortened qualifying sessions (20-minutes each) later in the day.

Additionally, the race distance has been shortened by 10 minutes, meaning a pair of 45-minute races will take place, with the first coming on Thursday afternoon. Race two will precede the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on Saturday morning.